BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Soprano Dawn Upshaw, a four-time Grammy-award winner and a 1982 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University has been named today (Sept. 25), by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, one of 24 MacArthur Fellows for 2007. Upshaw, along with the other Fellows, will receive a $500,000 in “no strings attached” funding over the next five years for support of their current activities or to take their work in new directions.
Since its inception in 1981, the Foundation has named 756 Fellows, including this year’s honorees, who range from 18 to 82 years of age.
“The MacArthur Foundation supports highly creative individuals and institutions with the ability and the promise to make a difference in shaping and improving our future,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. “These new MacArthur Fellows, extraordinary men and women of all ages and in many fields, honor and inspire us with their talent, their courage, and their deep commitment. With the gift of time and unfettered opportunity to create and explore, we are confident that the Fellows will follow their hearts and their minds wherever they lead, making new discoveries and making a difference in the world.”
The Fellows, selected for their creativity, originality and potential to make important contributions in the future, include a forensic anthropologist, spider silk biologist, short story writer, inventor, biomedical scientist, nanotechnologist, public health physician, choreographer, as well as Upshaw.